GameShow producer who started off as just the average ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' Tournament of Champions winner in 1969, but then entered the game show trade himself. At first he worked with the other major production companies of the era, but his most prominent work came at [[Creator/MarkGoodson Goodson-Todman]], where he helped produce ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' from 1972-78 and created the short-lived quiz show ''[[Series/DoubleDare1976 Double Dare]]'' (the one with Alex Trebek).

Wolpert's time at ''Price'' is most notable for the Showcase skits that debuted in 1974, where his fertile mind went to work on creating fairy tale & film parodies, and stuff like Captain Klutz and the April Fool's Showcases. After leaving ''Price'', Wolpert started his own production company and became responsible for some of the most unconventional and experimental game shows on television. Thankfully, one of his most downright-ridiculous creations, ''[[http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=DuelInTheDaytime Duel in the Daytime]]'' (essentially a MinigameGame with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvMDSBkyP7w an overly-medieval motif]]), didn't make it past the pilot stage.

He also worked on two Goodson revivals for first-run syndication: ''The New Price Is Right'' with Doug Davidson (1994-95), and a revival of ''Series/MatchGame'' hosted by Michael Burger (1998-99). His longest-running show ended up being ''Series/ShoppingSpree'', a show he created for [[Creator/ABCFamily The Family Channel]]; unlike just about every other show he produced (which ended up being so good, [[ShortRunner they got canned after the networks found out they were on the air]]), this one lasted for two seasons- still ended up canned, but that was because Creator/{{Fox}} had just bought out Fam and turned it into Fox Family; sparring partner ''[[Series/ShopTilYouDrop The New Shop Til You Drop]]'' met the same fate. He could easily be seen as the game show equivalent to Creator/JossWhedon or Creator/GregWeisman: his shows were quirky, fun, yet never lasted due to being ScrewedByTheNetwork or for other various reasons.

After ''Spree'' ended, Wolpert's company stopped producing new shows, but Wolpert continued working with others and dabbled in screenwriting a bit too. He was credited for the script of ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', story in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', and as a consultant for the "Super Mix" (2010-15) changes to ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''. He also has a cameo as a doctor in ''[[Film/FatherOfTheBride1991 Father of the Bride Part II]]''.----Several tropes are recurring in many of Wolpert's game shows:* An AnimatedCreditsOpening showing the basic premise of the game (''{{Whew}}, Trivial Pursuit, Series/{{Blackout}}, Shopping Spree'');* Suspenseful ThinkMusic during the bonus round that featured alternating notes on each second, as well as repetitive {{Truck Drivers Gear Change}}s (''Series/{{Blackout}}, Rodeo Drive, Series/WaitTilYouHaveKids'');* Bonus losses being punctuated by a unique SignatureSoundEffect (''{{Whew}}, Series/HitMan'') or particularly bizarre LosingHorns (''[[Series/DoubleDare1976 Double Dare]]'', ''Series/{{Blackout}}, Rodeo Drive, Shopping Spree, Series/WaitTilYouHaveKids'')** ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' may also qualify since Wolpert had his hand in the first few years of the current version (the TropeCodifier for LosingHorns) as well as the 1994 syndicated version (which gave us one of the most extreme examples of the trope in the entire genre).----!!Shows originally produced by Jay Wolpert Productions include:* ''{{Whew}}'' (1979-80; at least three pilots were taped December 4, 1978)* ''Pandemonium'' (November 2-3, 1979; unsold pilots hosted by Steve Edwards)* ''Duel In The Daytime'' (August 22-23, 1981; at least three pilots, hosted by Peter Tomarken)* ''Series/HitMan'' (1983)* ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq0k55aIHm8 Fortune Hunters]]'' (August 19, 1983; unsold pilot hosted by Robert "Bob" Hadley)* ''[[http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=FastFriends Fast Friends]]'' (November 28, 1984; at least two pilots, hosted by Bob Goen)* ''Trivial Pursuit'' (1986-87; at least four pilots, hosted by Steve Morris and Linda Marr {although the latter was removed for the '87 attempt}; Wink Martindale would later create his own series based off the game in 1993 for The Family Channel, and 2008 saw the Hasbro-backed ''Trivial Pursuit: America Plays'')* ''Series/{{Blackout}}'' (1988; pilot taped November 8, 1986 with Robb Weller hosting)* ''Series/{{Skedaddle}}'' (1988; part of ''The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera'')* ''Rodeo Drive'' (1990; began as a 1980 CBS pilot hosted by Peter Tomarken)* ''Series/WaitTilYouHaveKids'' (1996-97)* ''ShoppingSpree'' (1996-98)----